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ADHESION OF LOCOMOTIVES FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF THEIR CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATION. TESTS OF RAIL SPARKING TO IMPROVE ADHESION, CARRIED OUT ON BRITISH RAILWAYS

The past work of Specialist Committee B 44 in the development of a method for improving adhesion by using an electric arc struck between an electrode on the vehicle and the wheel/rail has been published in report B 44/RP 3 and 5. Promising results were obtained on the short length of test track at the Battelle Institute, Geneva, and it was therefore decided to conduct more extensive tests on the running lines of an actual railway. Accordingly, in December 1966 and February 1967, comprehensive tests were carried out on the running lines of BR to confirm the results obtained in Geneva. The following features were examined: Improvement in adhesion on rails with various conditions of running surface - dry, wet, polluted, oiled - as a result of a number of successive sparking runs; The "memory effect", or persistence of the effect of sparking after a period of time; Noise generation by the device; Radio and television interference from the device; The effect of the arc on the material of the rail. The results of the tests confirmed those obtained earlier in Geneva and elsewhere. While the improvment in adhesion is satisfactory, the efficiency of the sparking device is low and there are various undesirable side-effects. The Committee concludes that the development of other methods, such as the plasma gun, is more likely to lead to a successful practical method for improving adhesion.

Supplemental Notes:

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